Workshop: Write So Your Soul Smiles by Melba Burns

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you

Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you

Melba Burns has been a leader among writing teachers in the Lower Mainland for many years, so we’re very happy to feature her new writing workshop announcement. And no, we’re not getting paid for this!

Hello, and Happy Spring,
It’s been 5 months since I offered a writing workshop, but because it’s a time of renewal and rejuvenation, I decided to create one on the weekend of May 3rd and 4th. It’s also because I will have my book in paperback by then, and because I have also been reading another fabulous book (check out the flyer). And I realized that I love doing these workshops, and I so enjoy everyone who attends.
So, there you have it!
Me again — 5 months later.
There is a discount of $30 off the workshop if paid by next Wed, April 16th. This also includes a FREE copy of my book, Write a Journal So Your Soul Smiles.  Check the flyer for times, etc.
Please let me know as soon as you can because space is limited in my home. It will be a wonderful workshop and I’m excited about doing this one — it’s brand new.
I hope you are doing well, and smiling even more with our beautiful weather.
May I hear from you soon…
Sincerely,
Melba
You can contact Melba and register at soulwrites @ telus . com

 

The Flame: Call for Stories

Got this off Facebook, and very interesting it looks, too. Want to make your TV debut?

TheFlame

TheFlame

FLAME NEWS:

Last 2011 holiday season THE FLAME CHRISTMAS SPECIAL aired on Shaw TV and was watched by a whopping 70 000 viewers. It was such a tremendous success that we’ve partnered once again with the good folks at Metro Vancouver to produce a 2012 edition of THE FLAME CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!

WE ARE NOW accepting true story pitches that revolve around the Christmas/Holiday season for this television show. Whether your story is traditional, secular, multi-cultural, funny, confusing or poignant… We want to hear them!

HOW TO PITCH YOUR STORY:

1. For the purposes of this television broadcast format, all stories for this show must take LESS than seven minutes to tell. No Exceptions!
“Brevity is the soul of wit.”

2. All pitch submissions must encompass the entirety of your story arc for it to be considered. We need to see the beginning, middle and end of your true tale from start to finnish. 500 words or so will suffice.

3. We are scheduled to shoot in early November in front of a live audience, so make sure that you are available. We ask that you understand that space is very limited for this project and unfortunately we only have room for a few. So dig deep and bring on your best holiday season stories!

4. Before you pitch your story, please take a few moments to watch a few of the holiday stories that were featured in last years ‘Christmas Flame’ to give you an idea of what we’re looking for.
Just click the link below and enjoy!

www.metrovancouver.org/mediaroom/videos/Pages/Video.aspx?bcpid=888483788001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAtIJh4TE~,Ey0zR91VLds2WQTBHsEly2uYPZzBI2pw&bctid=1314788892001

Tend The Fire

Joel Wirkkunen & Deb Williams
~Producers of The Flame~

Send your story pitches to: joelwirk@telus.net

 

Bukowski: The Worst Hangover

I had a somewhat Bukowskian experience of my own recently, when I arrived at work just after a woman had been beaten, raped, and thrown from a fifth-story window at the Regent Hotel, just across the alley from my office. I didn’t hear the thud, but I did arrive in time to see the many various vehicles with the flashing, multi-coloured lights, and to listen to her cousin wailing in grief for three-quarters of an hour before Victims’ Services calmed her down.

And so, with that intro, welcome to our Bukowskian interlude:

via CelluloidBlonde

Sidney Awards available monthly

Sidney Hillman Foundation logo

Sidney Hillman Foundation logo

This is sweet, particularly given that ALL WordPress.com blogs are technically “published” in the US and thus qualify for consideration. The Sidney Hillman foundation, source of the prestigious, annual Hillman award, is now offering the Sidney, a monthly award of $500. Here are the deets from the application page:

Sidney Award Nominations

For more than 50 years, the Sidney Hillman Foundation has awarded, annually, the prestigious Hillman Prizes in Journalism. In 2009, the Foundation inaugurated the Sidney, a monthly award for an outstanding piece of socially-conscious journalism. We are looking for investigative work that fosters social and economic justice.

The Sidney is awarded monthly to a piece published in a magazine, newspaper, on a news site, or a blog in the United States.  Television and radio segments broadcast in the United States are also eligible, as are published photography series.

Deadlines are the last day of the month in which the piece was published/aired. In the case of magazines, please nominate according to the issue date on the publication, not when it first appeared.

You may submit your own work or nominate someone else’s.

Whenever possible, please provide the full text of the story you are nominating, either in the body of your email or as an attachment, as well as the URL.

The Foundation will announce each month’s winner on the 15th of the following month. Recipients will be awarded $500, a bottle of union-made wine, and our certificate designed by New Yorker cartoonist, Edward Sorel.

I love that “union-made wine.” That says so much, right there. You have to fill out the form on the page, so don’t hang around here, go do it!

The Surrey International Writers’ Conference Writing Contest

Sharpen your pencils!

Sharpen your pencils! It's time for the SIWC Writing Contest

Now that I’m not on the board anymore, I should enter this. Then again, email submissions are not allowed (honestly, is it SO hard???) and I don’t have a printer. Maybe I’ll make a web video of me typing it out on my old ’59 Hermes and get some juice out of it that way.

Wow, they’re getting specific with these. The deadline has a time as well as a date!

Deadline for entering is 4 p.m., Friday, September 10, 2010

1. The Surrey International Writers’ Conference Writing Contest is open to all writers 18 years and older. Young writers should check out Surrey Public Library’s Young Writers’ Contest.

2. Submissions from employees of the Surrey Continuing Education Department, instructors in the Surrey Creative Writing Diploma Program, and members of the Conference Board of Directors cannot be considered.

3. All submissions must contain original material, and may not have been previously published, accepted for publication, or have been a winner in another contest prior to the September 10th deadline.

4. Four Categories:

SIWC Storyteller’s Award: short stories 3,500 — 5,000 words

SIWC Non-fiction Award: maximum length 1,500 words

SIWC Poetry Award: one poem per submission: 40 lines max.

SIWC Writing For Young People Award: short stories, maximum length 1,500 words

5. Standard manuscript format — double-spaced, typed, one side only on white 8-1/2 x 11″ paper (letter-sized),each page to include title and page number only. No staples, please. Poetry may be single-spaced.

6. Blind submissions — the author’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript except cover page.

7. Include a cover page listing the writer’s name, address, email address, phone number, entry title, word length, and award competition category. Attach to manuscript with paper clip. All information is held in strict confidence, and will be destroyed after the contest winners are announced. Manuscripts are not returned.

8. In addition to hard copy, all entrants must be able to submit their work by email if requested. (This enables us to forward short-listed work to the final judges, and to produce the anthology of winning work in time for the conference). Short-listed writers will be notified in early October.

9. Entries are also accepted by email. Please follow the submission guidelines as noted above and copy your submission into the body of your email. Send your email to contest@siwc.ca. Attachments will be deleted, unread. The contest coordinator will print and format your submission (including a cover page) as per above instructions for consideration by the judges. Send your cheque or money order to

SiWC Writing Contest

SD #36, Unit 400, 9260 – 140 Street

Surrey, BC V3V 5Z4

Canada

Emailed entries will not be considered until the entry fee is received.

10. No entries will be returned. If you want the receipt of your entry acknowledged, please enclose a stamped,self-addressed postcard.

11. Final judges to be announced.

12. a) Mail deliveries:

SiWC Writing Contest

Unit 400, 9260 – 140 Street

Surrey, BC V3V 5Z4

Canada,

b) Courier or hand deliveries:

SiWC Writing Contest

Unit 400, 9260 – 140 Street

Surrey, BC V3V 5Z4

Canada,

c) Email entries:

Submit your work in the body of your email to contest@siwc.ca. Attachments will be deleted.

13. DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION: All entries must be postmarked by 4 p.m., Friday, September 10, 2010. No late entries will be considered.

14. All entries must be sent by email, regular mail, courier, or hand delivered. Faxed entries will not be accepted.

15. Only work which conforms to all the guidelines can be considered. Due to the volume of entries, we are unable to contact writers whose entries are incomplete. Check that yours meets every requirement before submitting.

16. The judges and conference/contest organizers cannot comment on individual entries.

17. Entry fees: $15 per submission. You may enter as many pieces as you like in one or more categories, but each entry must be accompanied by the $15 fee. You may combine fees in one cheque or money order. Fees must be received by September 10, 2010.

18. Cheques/money orders must be included with all entries, and be payable to SiWC. Emailed entries must send cheque or money order by mail to

SiWC Writing Contest

Unit 400, 9260 – 140 Street

Surrey, BC V3V 5Z4

Canada,

19. Winners will be informed by October 13, 2010. Prizes will be awarded at the Awards Ceremony on the first evening of the Conference, Friday, October 22. Winners will be listed on the conference website http://www.siwc.ca in the week after the conference.

20. Prizes:

Storyteller’s Award: 1st Place $1,000 and anthology; Honourable Mention(s) $150 each.

Nonfiction Award: 1st Place $1,000 and anthology; Honourable Mention(s) $150 each.

Poetry Award: 1st Place $1,000 and anthology; Honourable Mention(s) $150 each.

Writing for Young People Award: 1st Place $1,000 and anthology; Honourable Mention(s) $150 each.

In some cases, prizes might not be awarded exactly as noted, according to the discretion of the judges.

All winning entries will be published in the Writing Contest anthology which will be available at the conference Friday evening, immediately following the announcement of the winners.

21. Submission implies the author is granting first right of publication to the SiWC, as winners will be published in our annual anthology. Rights then revert to the author. Entering the contest also grants the SIWC the right to publish the entrant’s name in the contest anthology and the SIWC website, should the entrant be short-listed for, or win, a SIWC writing contest prize. Please see the SIWC website (siwc.ca) for the SIWC’s full privacy policy.

Direct any queries about the contest to kc dyer: contest@siwc.ca.

NB. Young Writers should investigate Surrey Public Library’s Young Writer’s Contest